Sometimes you just need a quick win. A panel I attended last week spent about 90 minutes really getting into the weeds of some serious issues around patient communication. Toward the end, the moderator turned to the panel and said, “Well, everyone wants a quick win.” He then put the panel members on the spot: could they come up with something that we could do—quickly—to … [Read more...]
This may change the way you think about patient education
You’ve seen me talking about patient education quite a bit around here, on the podcasts and in the articles. And sure, maybe you have a bunch of past CMEs on patient education cluttering up your cloud storage right now. It’s kind of the modern equivalent of the dusty binders on the shelf. I'm not immune. True story: this morning, I tried to download a 900+ page book…that … [Read more...]
“Are we using technical terms that are not appropriate for any patient?”
“Are we using technical terms? That are not appropriate for any patient?" This was a physician group administrator talking with me on the phone. This group had reached out to me, and I was asking about the problems they were facing. This was one of the first things the administrator said. I hear versions of this question from many providers. You know by now that high … [Read more...]
A quick breakdown of some health literacy basics
“When I say ‘health literacy,’ what does that mean to you?” I asked 4 physicians this question. I got 4 very different answers. And all of them were ‘right.’ As health professionals, you care about health literacy. I know this because when I’ve done in-person talks, nothing has drawn more attention and put more butts in chairs than when I’m talking about health … [Read more...]
1 thing you can do to save time in patient education
The nurse administrator looked at me and said, “Time. Everything is about time.” I had asked her about some front-burner issues she was facing in the oncology department. She continued, with a look on her face that was almost apologetic. “The docs want more time with their patients. They want more time.” Over the course of our conversation, the time that providers … [Read more...]
